Updated Columbia Recycling Information

An EF-1 tornado touched down April 20 in north Columbia near the City’s landfill property, destroying the Material Recovery Facility (MRF), where City employees would sort recyclable material for baling and sale. The storm created a setback in the City’s recycling, with recyclable material being sent to the landfill until a new system can be designed. Determining the best option for the rate payers will take careful consideration.

We would like residents to provide their perspectives, so that we may understand how the City can help customers to recycle more and the possible barriers to recycling.

Please review the following material, share your comments and questions below, and complete the short survey. Your input will be used to help the Utility develop plans for efficient services while also ensuring residents can participate fully and confidently.

City introduces new recycling guidelines beginning July 15, 2025

The City of Columbia continues to explore opportunities to divert recyclable materials from its landfill. One of these opportunities involves the Solid Waste Utility working with Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions in Jefferson City to transfer some recyclable materials.

The City is excited to take this step immediately. To help maximize the value of materials transferred outside the City, it is necessary to update the materials that customers should recycle.

The City asks customers to use their blue recycling bags for the following materials:

• Plastic bottles (such as soft drink, water or soda bottles)

• Plastic containers (such as detergent, milk or shampoo bottles)

• Aluminum beverage cans

• Metal food cans

Material that should not be placed in blue recycling bags at this time:

• Glass bottles

• Glass jars

• Yogurt cups

• Clamshell produce containers

• Dairy product tubs

• Black plastics or takeout containers

• Styrofoam containers

• Packaging material

• Plastic bags

• Trash

A cost-effective recycling program relies on the quality of the materials received at the recycling facility.

Trash and glass contaminate the recycling stream, causing costly damage to processing equipment and reducing the value of materials transferred outside the City. Other plastic products also have a negative value and increase the City’s costs to recycle. That is why it is essential to ensure that you place ONLY the proper items into the recycling stream.

Mixed fibers, including cardboard and paper, can still be bundled and left on the curb for collection. Fibers should not be in the blue recycling bags. Until further notice, these materials will continue to go to the landfill.

Solid Waste continues to investigate the construction of a building to replace the MRF, while also determining what best serves the community’s goals in reducing waste. Next steps would include making repairs to existing equipment to aid in its functionality. These repairs will help expand the opportunities for diverting other materials, such as mixed fiber items, from the landfill.

Solid Waste adds automated recycling collection proposal to FY26 budget

At the June 2, 2025, pre-Council meeting, City of Columbia Utilities and RRT Design & Construction discussed options and opportunities for the City’s recycling program to be built into a system that the community wants and deserves.

City of Columbia Utilities Director Erin Keys presented proposals for automated collection that would allow a return to weekly collection. And the City Council gave permission for the Utility to add automated collection to the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposals.

Along with its 11 daily routes for garbage collection, Solid Waste runs four recycling routes on Blue weeks and three recycling routes on Green weeks. To run all recycling routes weekly would require the Utility to run 17 total routes – just two more than its current maximum of 15. Switching recycling from two-person trucks to one-person automated trucks gives Solid Waste confidence Columbia could see a return of weekly collection on all routes.

The Utility would provide all customers with a 95-gallon roll cart. Customers would put their cardboard and paper materials loose in the cart and their plastic and metal containers in a bag inside the bin.

The breakdown of proposed costs is included in the slide presentation attached to this page.

The City of Columbia Solid Waste Utility is scheduled to have a cost of service study done in Fiscal Year 2026 that is expected to increase revenue while aligning customer fees with the cost of service. Currently, there is no additional customer charge for residential recycling collection.

RRT discusses options for handling materials

RRT Designs & Construction had done a full analysis on the City's recycling program in 2023, including options for rebuilding and upgrading the MRF. After the tornado, RRT was tasked with taking another look at options for the handling of materials.

RRT presented four options:

• Scenario A: Building a MRF on the existing site would allow Solid Waste to keep as much of the structure, foundation and equipment as possible. If the City wants to continue running its own MRF, this would be completed in the shortest timeframe and cost the least. Estimated cost: $21 million.
• Scenario B: Building a MRF on the current site of the Landfill Operations Center. This option would fit with Solid Waste's plans to move the scale house when the new landfill cell opens. However, construction of a new MRF would be delayed until a new Operations Center could be constructed. Estimated cost: $26.5 million.
• Scenario C: Building a MRF on an open gravel lot near the Administration building has the largest footprint of the three options but would increase traffic flow where the Utility does not want it. Estimated cost: $26.7 million.
• Transfer to Jefferson City: With two companies in Jefferson City now accepting materials, this option would be to build a transfer station rather than a full recovery facility. Temporary operations could be running in a short timeframe while a permanent facility is constructed.

RRT also presented ideas for a staffed drop-off facility for diversion of reusable, hard-to-recycle items from the landfill.